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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Tatmadaw, without air power.

According to unverifiable local sources, the Kokang rebels scored a major victory by inflicting over 70 enemy casualties (there are graphic photos of the body-count elsewhere) belonging to the Tatmadaw 66th Light Infantry Division two days ago. The rebels credited their victory by the absence of the Myanmar air force

Kokang rebels fighting against Myanmar’s army captured a government
position near the country’s border with China on Wednesday, killing
seven Myanmar soldiers while losing two rebel fighters, local sources
told RFA’s Mandarin Service.

Government forces shifted to using ground forces and artillery to
attack the rebels after an incident last week in which Myanmar’s air
force mistakenly dropped bombs on Chinese territory, killing four sugar
cane farmers and drawing a stern warning from China.

"Gun battles continued from last night until dawn as the
Myanmar military launched an artillery bombardment against rebels. Even
though we don’t know where the government force is targeting, but we can
hear explosions from heavy artillery fires,” said a Kokang border area
resident who gave only his surname, Yuan.

“There are no more Myanmar military air planes in the sky, however.
They might fear Chinese fighter jets,” he told RFA, referring to sorties
China’s military has been staging in response to the cross-border
attack on March 1